4 Ways God Speaks To Us
Do you struggle when talking to God? Are you able to recognize His voice? Although there are many ways God speaks to us, here are four.
The ability to have a relationship with God, the creator of all things is astonishing. Yet, that is exactly the privilege that He has given us.
Just like our relationships with people, we grow and sustain our relationship with God through communication. Our main way of communicating with God is through prayer. But how does God speak to us?
That’s a great question. We serve a God who has made Himself known in different ways. In the Old Testament we see the different facets of God that He revealed to His people, and along with that a different trait of His character was brought to light too.
Although this is not an extensive list of the ways God can speak to us, it is a list of very common ways that God speaks to us in our everyday lives.
There’s one important thing to remember when you’re looking for the ways that God speaks to us, and that is remembering to weigh everything against the Word.
God does not contradict Himself, which means that He does not contradict His Word. When we attempt to understand what God is saying to us, or whether He is speaking to us in a certain way, it’s important not only to pray about it, but to make sure that it aligns with His word.
4 Ways God Speaks to Us
1. Through Creation
David said it beautifully in Psalm 19:1-4, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.”
One of the most evident ways that God speaks to us, or reveals Himself to us is through creation. When we look around at what God has made, the intricate design of humans, animals, and the world around us, it gives a loud testament of a great Creator.
Through creation God reveals many different aspects of His character to us. We can see that He is incredibly creative, absolutely brilliant, completely powerful, and bigger than we can imagine.
In Psalm 19, David says that creation testifies of God. It declares His glory, and it proclaims the work of His hands. We are a part of that glorious work that He has done in creation.
It’s interesting how creation, the hills, mountains, skies, ocean, and so much more, does not have a voice that says “look, God made me.” Yet, that is exactly what it testifies to, to all those who get to live surrounded by it.
It doesn’t matter what country we live in, or what language we speak, God’s existence is proclaimed through creation, and we are reminded of who He is when we look around us.
Paul says in Romans 1:20, “For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”
Though creation tells of an intelligent creator, it does not tell us the full picture. Yet, it does inform us that there is someone much greater than us. That is where scripture comes in. Through God’s word, we get to know Him personally, through the words that He gave to us.
2. Through His Word
The main way God speaks to us is of course through His word. The Bible is the written word of God, and it pertains to all that we need to live godly lives.
In Hebrews 4:12, we’re told, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
In other words, God’s word is alive. He works through His word. As we open our Bible, study His word, and ask Him to help us understand and apply His word to our hearts and lives, He makes it effective in our lives.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
When we dedicate ourselves to scripture, what we are truly doing is getting to know God. Scripture reveals to us what God is like. He speaks to us through His word, and speaks into many of the daily situations that we face.
We learn to trust God, as we learn about who He is and what He is like. When we read how He rescued His people, how He redeemed the lost, how He gave up His Son for us, we learn of His faithfulness, despite our unfaithfulness. We learn of His grace, despite the fact that we are undeserving. And we learn of His great love that He has shown us.
Not only do we learn what God is like, and what we are like, but we also learn what it is that God desires of us. We learn how to live lives that are pleasing to God. We grow in wisdom, and His word keeps us safe, and warns us of dangers and unwise actions and situations.
3. Through His Son
The clearest way that God has spoken to us is through His Son, Jesus.
In Colossians 1:15-20, we’re told that, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
Jesus is the Word of God that lived among us. He was the revelation of God, and not only revealed the Father, but He is God Himself.
Through the Old Testament God used to speak through prophets, and they would be His messengers to His people. But when He sent His Son, He was no longer a messenger but the message. That is why we know Him as Immanuel, God with us.
Hebrews 1:1-4 says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.
Whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power.
When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”
Through Christ God communicated His love for us on the cross. Through Christ we have a way to have peace with God, and a personal relationship with Him. He alone is the way, the truth and the life, and apart from Him we can’t come to the Father.
4. Through Other People
Another way that God speaks to us is through other people. There is a reason that we are referred to as the body of Christ, and not the bodies.
God has intended for us to be United under Christ as the head. And we are meant to work together, bringing our different gifts into one place and serving one another.
One of those ways through which God often speaks to us is through the teaching or preaching of the word. It’s important for us to gather with other believers and sit under the teaching of God’s word.
If you’ve ever gone to a church service and felt like a word that was preached felt like it was intended for you or that it spoke directly into a situation that you are going through, that is one example of how God uses others to speak to you.
God may use others to speak to you through accountability, through instruction, correction, encouragement, generosity or simply a kind word or gesture.
This is why it’s important to be connected to a community of believers, and to share our lives with one another. When we have fellow Christians in our lives, God can use them to point us to Him, and to help us grow in our relationship with Him.
He also provides for us through others, and uses us to bless others who are in need as well. This always serves as a reminder that God cares for us, and that He looks out for us, as He uses others to meet a need that we may have. We are simply His hands and feet.
Want to learn how we can use God’s Word in the Bible to speak to God? Check out these posts below.
